


The Dodo and the Hummingbird

by Gizzwhizz



Series: Club Vyno [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, Canon Compliant, Fluff, M/M, Opposites Attract, World of Ruin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 07:25:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14929821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gizzwhizz/pseuds/Gizzwhizz
Summary: Dino was a man of style. Vyv was...decidedly not. But neither would trade the years they spent together for anything. FFXV Rarepair Week 2018





	The Dodo and the Hummingbird

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SunshineAndSnark (GoodApollo27)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodApollo27/gifts).



> For my wonderful Sunshine, who always brightens my day and introduced me to this pairing in the first place. This was supposed to be fluff but it kind of morphed into angst, so I owe these boys a full on fluffy story in the future. More should be written about them anyway. We will make Vyno a thing!
> 
> This story is for FFXV Rarepair Week 2018 for the prompt "Opposites Attract."

Dino was a man of style. No one could deny that. From his carefully spiked silver hair to his black leather shoes, it was clear that he took great care in his appearance. A blazer worn over snug black jeans and a loose mint green tie completed the art of looking business “casual” when in fact Dino Ghiranze didn’t know the meaning of the word. 

The man’s swagger and fast-talking accent only added to the illusion that you were always somehow one step behind his lightening quick wit. That was what Vyv noticed first upon hiring Dino as a reporter for Meteor Publishing: behind the carefully crafted appearance and the rapid fire speech catered to keep listeners on their toes, there lay one of the most undeniably clever minds that Vyv had ever encountered. In short, Dino had the soul of a reporter through and through. 

On the other hand, Vyv Dorden was a study in contrasts when compared to his employee. He rarely dressed in anything besides his own company’s T-shirts and kept a short beard that simply refused to climb his cheeks no matter how old he got. His frizzy brown hair was pulled into a ponytail, not out of any sense of fashion but merely in an attempt to keep it off his neck in the sweltering Lestallum heat. And while he could be excitable, he came off as far more laid back than anything that Dino’s hurried speech patterns could ever produce. Despite all this, they worked well together, supplementing each other’s weaknesses and playing off the other’s strengths. 

While they certainly got along, it still came as a complete surprise to Vyv the first time Dino asked him out. Even more surprising was the way Dino nearly tripped over his every word as he fumbled to say, “So…did ya maybe wanna go out with me sometime? To grab a drink! Didya wanna grab a drink with me!?” 

Vyv didn’t really drink, but the hint of pink on Dino’s high cheeks was simply too enthralling to resist. Besides, he had never known that his heart could do backflips in his chest until that moment. 

One outing became two and two became three until they were regularly sharing meals whenever Dino was in Lestallum to turn in a story (and sometimes when he wasn’t even on assignment). Vyv learned a lot about Dino in those first few weeks. He learned that Dino had a hobby of making wonderfully exotic jewelry, often utilizing mysterious gems that imbued the wearer with some benefit or another so that his works weren’t only beautiful but practical as well.  He also learned that Dino could, in fact, actually speak at the pace of a normal human and often did so when he was comfortable, as he quickly became with Vyv. And he learned that Dino was a weepy drunk, though he hated crying and would curse loudly as he fought off the tears which quickly lead Vyv to ban them from drinking outside of his apartment to avoid the inevitable stares. 

And, after about three months, Vyv learned that Dino’s lips tasted permanently of spearmint and sea salt. 

After that it became Dino’s habit to stay with Vyv whenever he was in the city, though his stays never lasted for very long. Even without stories to chase, Dino was a restless spirit and he simply couldn’t seem to find satisfaction with staying put the way Vyv could. Eventually, he discovered that hanging around Galdin Quay was a sure way to both rake in gossip and send tourists on “treasure hunts” for gems to support his jewelry hobby. More and more he would loiter at the quay until his money ran out, returning to Lestallum to get paid for a few articles only to turn around and go back. To be fair, he did make a habit of sending Vyv frequent texts and pictures, but while Vyv appreciated the updates he found they didn’t quite make up for not having Dino nearby. 

Despite the media mogul’s disappointment at what was becoming a long-distance relationship, however, he never once asked Dino not to go. It felt too much like putting a bird in a cage. Dino needed to be allowed his freedom. He’d only grow resentful if Vyv tried to hold him captive. Still, sometimes, just for a moment, Vyv would find himself wishing that Dino could be content with just him. 

But Vyv kept his misgivings to himself, at least until the days began to grow shorter. He’d had a bad feeling the moment reports began coming in about the destruction in Altissia, and watching the sun set earlier and earlier each day only further soured his stomach. Finally, when a rumor reached him that the Royal Prince’s retinue had returned from across the sea _without_ the Prince, he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. 

That very day he called Dino, ready for a fight. He barely got halfway through his List of Reasons Why Dino Should Stay in Lestallum, however, before his boyfriend and erstwhile employee interrupted him with a tired laugh. 

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Dino said. His speech was much slower than normal and Vyv thought his voice sounded stretched somehow, as if he hadn’t been sleeping. There was also a strange undercurrent to his words that Vyv would have called relief had he heard it from anyone else. “I’ll come home, alright? Enough with the third degree already, sheesh.” 

True to his word, Dino came back, and this time he stayed. At first, Vyv found himself waiting for the inevitable excuse to leave, but none ever came. Dino gathering any information he could on threats throughout Leide to aid the Glaives and Hunters that had turned Lestallum into a base of operations as the sun grew ever more scarce. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and months turned to years, and still Dino stayed. He filled his days with walks or small errands that took him all over the city. Mostly it was in an effort to battle boredom and satisfy his listless nature, but he never left the relative safety of Lestallum’s walls. 

And Vyv loved him for that, even as he tried to ignore the dark corner of his mind that whispered it could never last. 

In the end, it was Galdin Quay that ultimately sunk its claws into Dino once more. There were rumors that King Regis’ royal vessel had been spotted off the coast of the quay and he was determined to find out if they were true no matter the danger, which was considerable as the days were now almost completely consumed by darkness. The nights were hardly ever even lit by moonlight anymore. The entire idea made Vyv sick, but just as in the early days of years gone by he didn’t argue. A part of him had accepted from the very beginning that Dino would leave someday. Somewhere in the intervening years, though, it had become an errant thought rather than a certainty. His fault for letting himself think that way in the first place. 

Nevertheless, the morning of Dino’s departure, Vyv slung an arm around his bedmate’s thin waist and dragged him back when Dino reached to turn off the alarm on his phone. 

“Don’t go,” Vyv murmured for the first time into thick silvery hair that was feather soft without the usual gel holding it up. 

“There’s nothin’ ta worry about, Teddy Bear,” Dino argued around a yawn. “We’ll be there and back quick as ya can blink, and it ain’t like I’m goin’ by myself,” he added, referring to the few Glaives that had agreed to accompany him and Coctura, who would also be going to see what she could salvage from the resort that had once been her home. “Now come on, get offa me. I gotta get ready.” 

Vyv didn’t let go, though. He kept his arm firmly around Dino and while he wasn’t necessarily a strong man, there were some advantages to being significantly bigger than one’s partner. Dino squirmed for a moment and then, with an effort, twisted to face Vyv with a huff. 

“What’s with you?” he demanded, gray eyes narrowed in a glare. Vyv just stared back at him. The years had given Dino a few crow’s feet around his eyes, but otherwise his face remained largely unchanged from the first time they had met. For a moment Vyv couldn’t speak, struck by the horrible thought that this might be the last time he would see that beautiful face up close and he’d better memorize it, just in case. The longer he stayed there, staring silently, however, the more Dino’s expression relaxed until his eyebrows rose towards his hairline in obvious concern. 

“Hey,” he said, softer this time. “Come on, ya big lug, what’s wrong?” 

Every ounce of Vyv’s being wanted to tell him again not to go. He wanted to argue about the dangers of this dark world they now lived in or even threaten to physically restrain him—anything to get him to stay. But, at the same time, he was reminded of birds again, and what he’d always known about Dino. If the man he loved could be compared to any creature, it would be a hummingbird: there for an instant and gone the next. Mesmerizing while it was present and dearly missed when it was absent. 

And never, ever, holding still. 

Vyv, on the other hand, was more akin to a dodo: plodding and flightless and nearly sedentary. It was a miracle that Dino had managed to stay settled with him for as long as he had. Wishing for more held the bittersweet tang of cruelty, regardless of how good his intentions might be. 

So, instead, Vyv summoned up a smile and kissed those thin lips that tasted always of spearmint and sea salt. It was chaste, almost tentative, as kisses initiated by Vyv always were, but he let it linger until Dino’s hand came up to tangle in Vyv’s frizzy hair of its own accord. When at last he pulled back he pressed their foreheads together and looked directly into Dino’s eyes, eyes the color and consistency of flowing mercury. 

“I’m going to miss you,” Vyv whispered. Dino snorted. 

“I’ll be gone for two days, tops. I think you’ll live,” he shot back, eyes glittering mischievously. He made to get up again, but Vyv kept him in place. There was one more thing he had to say. Dino started to protest, but for once it was Vyv’s turn to interrupt _him_. 

“I love you.” 

Dino stopped and blinked up at him again, eyes so wide it would have been comical if Vyv didn’t feel so nauseous. In all the years they had spent together they had only said those words out loud probably a few dozen times at most, and only a handful of those in situations outside the immediate aftermath of passion. They both new it was true, and usually that was enough. Today, though, Vyv needed Dino to hear it before he walked out that door, whatever happened. 

“Yeah,” Dino said after a beat, his hand sliding down to cup Vyv’s cheek. “Yeah, I love you, too, Teddy Bear. Look, everything’s gonna be fine.” 

Vyv finally released his hold on Dino’s waist and instead brought his hand up to cover his lover’s, pressing it against his face for a moment before turning his head to lay a kiss on the smooth palm. 

“Okay,” he said, letting his hand drop. Dino eyed him for a moment more before finally turning to rise from the bed and disappearing into the bathroom for the daily task of taming his hair. Vyv listened to the sound of running water and made no move to get up himself. He had his own laundry list of things to do today, but just now he found he didn’t have the energy to attend to any of them. Instead he listened to the sounds of Dino getting ready, committing each one to memory. He would play them back in his head in the mornings to come, pretending for just a few minutes that Dino had simply woken up before him to claim the bathroom first, as days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and months turned to years.


End file.
